Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a wine rack assembly and building kit and associated methods. More particularly, the present invention relates to a kit formed of interchangeable parts which are capable of locking together to form wine racks and other storage containers enabling a customer to customize their storage space for both efficiency and aesthetics.
Discussion of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,980 ('980 Patent), which issued to Sturdican, discloses a Multi-Leaved Tablet and Method of Forming Same. The '980 Patent describes a multi-leaved tablet of this invention consists of leaves with corresponding surface portions adhesively interconnected and with corresponding surface portions free to fold relative to adjacent leaves. The leaves are of predetermined configuration and are die cut from a plurality of panels arranged so that they overlap. An area of adhesive interconnects portions of the surfaces of adjoining panels. This area has a rectilinear peripheral segment, and each die-cut leaf includes at least a portion of the rectilinear peripheral segment of the adhesive area. The rectilinear peripheral segment of the adhesive area is coincident with the folding axes of the leaves.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,503 ('503 Patent), which issued to Johnson discloses an Interlocking Joint Wine Rack. The '503 Patent essentially describes a wine rack which has no fasteners or adhesives at the three-dimensional joints, but rather the joints are all formed so that the three intersecting cross pieces interlock in such a way that a tight joint construction occurs strictly by virtue of the way the members are cut in the joint region, and the way in which the members are interlocked. The interlocking and connecting of cubic cells provides a rigid structure capable of accepting loads in any direction and allowing the rack to be mounted in any orientation, with single point wall mounting possible wherein the rack can withstand full loading with no distortion. The modular cell configuration is adapted to the construction of lattice beams and other arrangements besides wine racks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,305 ('305 Patent), which issued to Lin, discloses a Modular Rack for Wine Bottles. The '433 Patent describes a modular rack for holding wine bottles is formed of a plurality of base frames and support rods. The base frames are provided in the center thereof with a bottle-holding space and in the periphery thereof with a plurality of tenons, mortises, and slots. The base frames are arranged together in various ways such that the tenons of one of the base frames are retained in the mortises of another one of the base frames, and that the support rods are engaged with the slots of the base frames.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,168,580 ('580 Patent), which issued to Larimer et al., describes a Rack. The '580 Patent describes a rack which includes a first lower wire bend, a second lower wire bend, a first upper wire bend, and a second upper wire bend. The first section also includes a first pivot coupling into which is received a first end of each of the first and second lower wire bends and into which is received a first end of each of the first and second upper wire bends. The first section also includes a second pivot coupling into which is received a second end of each of the first and second lower wire bends and into which is received a second end of each of the first and second upper wire bends.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,946,544 ('544 Patent), which issued to Benshetrit, describes a Folding Support or Frame Structure. The '544 Patent discloses a structure that has an open and closed configuration. In the open configuration, the structure is free standing and is able to support weight. In the closed configuration, the structure is flat. The structure is formed of two elements that are interlocked at their corners in a manner that allows them to pivot with respect to each other. Chamfered surfaces on the sides of the elements provide stops limiting the motion between the elements. Several structures may be combined to form composite products.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,038,834 ('834 Patent), which issued to Liu, describes a simple shelving structure that can be readily and rapidly installed. The '834 Patent describes a shelving structure which may include a predetermined number of shelf boards, rear plates, connecting members, and frame members. The shelf board is a rectangular board with two expanded side edges. The rear plate is a hexagonal plate with corners modified into arc-shaped inward recesses and with U-shaped slots extending inwards in the middle of the recesses. The U-shaped slot has continuous undulating bounding edges on both of its sides. The connecting member has two clamping planes linked by a base. The frame member has three equally distributed holding slots extending through both ends. Each outer surface between two neighboring holding slots of the connecting member has a recessed strip with regularly spaced extension plates for installing additional components. The shelving structure can be readily installed or uninstalled and can be modified or rearranged according to space restraint or other requirements.